Small Business Fraud

During poor economic times, many businesses see an increase in fraud. Businesses tend to see a rise in employee fraud, also known as embezzlement, in particular as employees struggle with personal finances. Small companies are especially vulnerable to employee fraud due to the fact that they tend to have fewer formal financial controls in place to prevent it. A 2010 survey by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found that 31 percent of employee fraud occurs in companies with less than 100 employees, compared to 21 percent in companies with more than 10,000 employees. The losses due to employee fraud were also greater in smaller companies, reporting losses of nearly $150,000 versus losses of about $84,000 in larger companies. […]